Who should read this guide?

This guide is for CRS leadership, staff and partners at the country level. Other development practitioners and policy makers should also find it useful.

What's in the guide?

Part 1 reviews some fundamental concepts that provide a foundation
for working with a climate change perspective. It reviews the evidence for climate
change, discusses potential causes and describes current understanding
of climate change trends.

Part 2 introduces three broad strategies for dealing with climate
change: adaptation to its effects; mitigation to slow the process of climate
change; and adoption of climate-smart agriculture.

Part 3 focuses on concrete action to facilitate adaptation to climate change by the rural poor. It aims to
foster skills that enable readers to advance work with communities threatened by
climate change so that they can be more resilient in adapting to its risks. The action
steps provide a structured and practical approach to developing better
projects that include a climate change perspective—from analyzing the situation to proactively engaging with communities.